1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly to a flexible printed circuit (FPC) connector for electrically interconnecting a printed circuit board (PCB) with an electrical interface such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FPC connectors are commonly applied for electrical engagement between PCBs and FPC boards. A typical FPC connector of this kind comprises a housing, a plurality of terminals received in the housing, and a pressing member slidably mounted on the housing. Each terminal has a bifurcated contact section, and a solder tail for being soldered onto a PCB board. One end of an FPC board is inserted into an opening defined in the housing, said end thereby engaging with the contact sections of the terminals. Thus, mechanical and electrical engagement between the PCB and the FPC board is attained.
The pressing member of some FPC connectors, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,843, is not rotatable relative to the housing of the FPC connector. Instead, the pressing member is inserted into an opening of the housings along a single direction parallel to an associated PCB. With the trend toward more and more miniaturization of structures of the FPC connectors, it is becoming increasingly difficult for assemblers and users to insert and extract a pressing member into and from a corresponding opening of an FPC connector.
Japan Patent numbers 3,008,157, 3,378,990 and 2,814,447 disclose another kind of FPC connector. The connector has a structure similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,843, except that the pressing member is pivotally mounted on the housing, so that the pressing member is rotatable from an open position to a closed position relative to the housing. However, there is no retention means incorporated in the pressing member or the housing of the FPC connector. When the pressing member or the housing is accidentally bumped, the actuating member is prone to rotate upwardly away from the closed position. When this happens, mechanical and electrical engagement between the FPC board and terminals of the FPC connector is destabilized. Open circuits may even occur between some terminals and the inserted end of the FPC board.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems, Japan Patent number 3,160,665 discloses still another FPC connector. A pair of first protruding blocks extends from a front of a housing of the FPC connector, at tops of opposite side walls thereof. A pair of second protruding blocks is formed at opposite ends of a pressing member of the FPC connector, corresponding to the first protruding blocks. When an FPC board is inserted into the FPC connector, the first protruding blocks ride over and engage with the second protruding blocks. The pressing member is thereby locked at the closed position.
However, during the above-described process, the first and second protruding blocks undergo considerable interfering forces therebetween. This is because there are no spring or resilient means incorporated in the first and second protruding blocks. As a result, the first and second protruding blocks are liable to sustain damage, which may lead to the pressing member and/or the housing having to be discarded.
To reduce the large interfering forces, first and second protruding blocks with reduced interfering dimensions have been devised. Nevertheless, after repeated mating, the interfering dimensions tendto be even further reduced due to friction wear. When this happens, the first protruding blocks only loosely engage with the second protruding blocks, and the FPC board is not firmly retained in the housing. Thus, reliability of mechanical and electrical engagement between the FPC board and the terminals is decreased. Japan patent publication number 8-279378 has this kind of shortcoming.
What is needed is a new electrical connector that overcomes the above-mentioned problems.